A raft of measures aimed at combating alcohol abuse was unveiled by the New Zealand government on Monday (23 August). While industry representatives have broadly welcomed the reforms, Ben Cooper writes, public health campaigners have criticised the Government for not going far enough.

Over the past two years, the name Drinkaware has become a familiar feature on drinks labels in the UK. Drinkaware’s chief executive Chris Sorek spoke with Ben Cooper about what the industry-sponsored alcohol education charity does.

Heineken has emerged as a force to be reckoned with on the global beer market over the last year, prompting analysts to reassess the Dutch brewer's potential and leading some to question whether it can better the might of SABMiller.

Starting tomorrow (11 June), the FIFA World Cup football tournament has finally arrived in South Africa. In our last feature on the biggest sporting event in the world, Olly Wehring takes a look at how the country's winelands are gearing up for the football-fest.

The introduction of a new bill into the US Congress that seeks to reaffirm the states’ powers to regulate alcohol has reignited the debate over inter-state direct wine shipping, and sparked a fierce battle between drinks wholesalers and suppliers. Ben Cooper reports.

Unsold wine in tanks, wineries shutting down and vineyards being uprooted. It's not a pretty picture for India’s infant wine industry as it bears the twin-pronged brunt of global glut and domestic roadblocks. That was the backdrop against which India’s first National Wine Conference was held in New Delhi last week and, if anything, the meet underlined fears that the country’s wine sector is in a ‘make or break’ situation.

Both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Co have been forced by campaigners to make international commitments on school vending. PepsiCo has gone further than its rival while, Ben Cooper writes, its commitments on selling drinks in schools can also be seen in the context of other recent statements it has made on nutritional goals and the marketing of better-for-you products.

Diageo and Pernod Ricard have spent much of the last year talking up China's thirst for premium spirits, but some of their smaller rivals are happy to leave the 'big two' to fight it out in the country - for now.

On a continent-by-continent basis, Asia is top of the pile when it comes to beer consumption. The region offers many opportunities for growth for the global brewers - welcome words in these trying times. Despite Japan's flat performance of late in the brewing sector, the potential offered by the likes of China and India means Asia is where the beer world is looking in 2010. Gavin Blair in Tokyo, Frances Wang in Shanghai, Raghavendra Verma in New Delhi and Karryn Miller, take a closer look at the region.

Coca-Cola Enterprises is planning a series of new drinks launches in the UK and has said it is "business as usual" in 2010, following news that its North American operations are to be acquired by soft drinks giant The Coca-Cola Co.

The Coca-Cola Co has insisted its move to acquire the North American operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is “absolutely proactive play” and not a reaction to PepsiCo’s similar announcement last year.

Plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland appear to be faltering, while political support for such a move south of the border appears thin on the ground. With questionable legality under EU law a key stumbling block, Ben Cooper examines the question of minimum pricing in the context of the wider alcohol policy debate in the EU.